WELC statement on appointment of industry puppet as EPA Administrator

The appointment of Scott Pruitt, a climate denier and fossil fuel industry puppet as EPA Administrator in the next presidential administration effectively hijacks the mission of the agency to serve corporate masters at the expense of public health and the environment.

“In the American West, the continued exploitation of fossil fuels will wreak havoc on our climate, our communities, and our land, air, and water. A functioning Environmental Protection Agency should provide a critical bulwark against that exploitation, such as in the San Juan Basin, a region treated as a sacrifice zone for fossil fuels ,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center. “Make no mistake: an EPA led by this man will not provide that bulwark. We will wield the full power of the law to stand between Pruitt, a servant to the fossil fuel industry, and the weakening of core public health and environmental protections in the West.”